


Allegiance

by weialala



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2019-06-30 22:46:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15761271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weialala/pseuds/weialala
Summary: Naruto gets stood up at his own wedding because—to be honest—that’s just how his luck runs.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going through a purge of old files on my computer. Instead of deleting works that I wrote a long time ago (this one dates 2010), I thought I might share. This is a one-shot/WIP. I think there's another chapter lying around somewhere; I'll post it when I find it. 
> 
> This is so firmly an AU that I cannot warn you enough just how canon-divergent it is. I may have been inspired after reading a paperback romance novel at an airport. There is no other explanation for where this story went in my head.

Naruto gets stood up at his own wedding because—to be honest—that’s just how his luck runs. Orochimaru’s smile becomes increasingly calcified with each passing minute until in the end, he looks waxen, inhuman and grotesque with his pale skin.

The church is stifling. The windows are letting in all the sunlight but none of the breeze, and Naruto can hear his daughter making uneasy noises. His eyes drift over to Sakura, who is holding Kushina; he’d dressed Kushina in cotton for the day, knowing that the sun would be bright and the ceremony long, but he hadn’t anticipated the delay. She must be getting hungry. She will need a diaper change soon. He can see the bright red of her hair, and the occasional plump fist she raises or leg she kicks out before resettling again.

Kushina is a quiet child, but even she has limits to her patience. Any longer and she will start crying, and then what? It’s not like Naruto can abandon the altar and go to her. Sakura is more than capable of handling Kushina, but Lee is sitting to her right, holding Sarada in his lap, and Sarada looks like she might blow any minute now in this pressure cooker.

Naruto glances towards the heavy double doors, propped wide open now to let in the breeze—and maybe herald the groom’s arrival. If he chooses to show up.

Naruto makes sure that he does not fidget in the heavy drapings of his kimono for this occasion. He is wearing the Hatake tribal colors—ivory white with a slate gray sash—but the robes draped over his shoulders are Uzumaki orange. Kakashi adopted him when he was young, fulfilling a promise to Naruto’s absent father, but he is his  _ mother’s  _ son. On this day, his wedding day, he will not hide that about himself.

Iruka steps forward from to murmur, “You’re doing really well, Naruto.”

Naruto smiles at Iruka and tries to make it genuine. “Thanks, Iruka.”

He’d asked Iruka to officiate the ceremony, and here they are now, both stranded at the altar. But then again, what else was Naruto expecting? What was  _ Kakashi  _ expecting with this alliance? He is Konohagakure jinchuuruki, the demon vessel. He exists only to house the Nine-Tailed Demon; he was given the gift of a daughter to ensure that the Uzumaki bloodline would be continued—as his mother was given the gift of a child to raise and call her own—but that is the extent of his value.

Naruto will be the first to admit—he was the first to  _ argue— _ that his value is not enough to buy the allegiance of Otogakure.

But Kakashi had persisted. They needed Otogakure’s allegiance because they share a vast northern border. Kakashi is weakened from a drawn-out war with Iwagakure, while Orochimaru is fighting battles of his own--the northern tribes within the borders of his country are fracturing, rising up against the warlord who claims to subjugate them under one banner. Orochimaru is a new warlord, still, just a decade into his reign, and he is beset by dissenters. He will need Kakashi’s aid when the time comes.

Orochimaru offered Kakashi men for the war against Iwagakure. Three  _ hundred _ men. And in return? A show of good faith, a promise that Kakashi would one day return the favor when Orochimaru’s civil war eventually breaks out.

Marriage is the easiest way to demonstrate good faith. Kakashi has two adopted children of his own, but Sakura is already happily married to Lee. Their love blossomed when they were just teenagers, and Kakashi secured the marriage between their clans gladly. He knew Lee’s father, Gai; they were good friends growing up together. Now, Sakura and Lee have a three-year-old child together.

Naruto will not complain, and he will obey Kakashi because he will not give cause for Kakashi to be embarrassed in any way. Kakashi is Kage, and Naruto is a Kage’s son. That comes with responsibilities.  _ All _ children have responsibilities to their clans; no marriage is agreed upon without approvals from clan elders, and Naruto happens to belong to the most important Clan in the Village.

But Naruto was hoping for a solitary life. He is fine alone, thank you very much, because he is the demon-vessel. His father apparently loved his mother— _ very, very much _ , Jiraiya will insist often—but he could not marry her (Naruto will wonder just how much his father loved his mother, if he couldn’t marry her; Namikaze Minato died in war when Naruto was born, so he never had the chance to ask).

Jinchuuruki’s do not get married. They are required by law to bear children so that the bloodline does not end, but in the history of the Uzumaki Clan, there has never been a marriage. Eleven generations, and not a single marriage. They die with no one but their child by their side (and just a  _ single _ child, no more, because for the ritual that transfers the demon from one Uzumaki to another, there can never be more than one; the chakra of the demon will split and fracture if there is more than one option for a vessel).  

This is the fate of a jinchuuruki. They are cursed. They are the harbingers of death and destruction.

Naruto accepted this fate when he was seven years old. It was an easy decision to accept because his mother promised him that one day, he, too, would have a child of his own to love and cherish. Like she loved and cherished him.  _ You are the love of my life _ , she promised him,  _ and one day, you will find the love of your life, when you have the next Uzumaki child. _

He has found the love of his life. He has Kushina, a daughter birthed with a surrogate he never met, but will forever be grateful to. She is his, his alone, his blood and love. He named her after his own mother, because she has the same red hair as his mother, and sometimes, when she blinks up at him with her bright blue eyes and smiles, he thinks,  _ That’s Mama’s smile. _

He was ready to have a child because he had everything else he needed: a family, friends, inheritance, a guaranteed position as Sakura’s right-hand when she ascended the steps to become Kage herself. So Naruto waited, patient, until he was twenty-three before asking Kakashi for a surrogate to bear his child. What he didn’t anticipate was having to walk down the aisle so soon after Kushina’s arrival.

But of course, now that he is at the altar, he has no one at his side.

Naruto takes a deep breath. He’d warned Kakashi. He’d warned Jiraiya. He’d told anyone who would listen.  _ No one _ , he said,  _ will want to marry a jinchuuruki _ .

_ Times are changing _ , Hinata promised him, because she is one of his best friends and loves him unconditionally. Everyone else said the same thing, trying to cheer him up, because Naruto does not lack in nonsensically optimistic friends.

Even Kakashi and Sakua started to have faith. Jiraiya even said something inane about  _ arranged marriages sometimes leading to love _ .

Naruto scoffs at the memory of Jiraiya’s optimism. “What a load of—”

“Naruto,” Iruka warns, and looks pointedly over Naruto’s shoulder. Naruto glances to see if the groom has  _ finally _ arrived, but no, it’s Orochimaru getting to his feet to talk to Kakashi. They exchange some words, with Jiraiya huddled close by. A moment later, Tsunade joins them, and Naruto can’t help but smile at the look of fierce determination on her face. She is his Great Aunt; although she is Senju, she is related to the Uzumaki—her grandmother was an Uzumaki, but she was one of twins, and did not inherit the bloodline’s gift. After a few moments, Orochimaru turns to the crowd assembled—and  _ what _ a crowd it is; the entire Village showed up for this event, a jinchuurki,  _ marrying _ , has such a thing ever happened in Konohagakure’s storied history?

“Lords and ladies,” Orochimaru begins. His voice is smooth and even. It makes Naruto’s skin crawl. “I apologize for the delay of my captain. He is busy, as you can imagine, with the northern skirmishes.”

Kakashi takes over neatly. “Lord Orochimaru will stand in the groom’s place.”

Naruto takes another deep breath. He’d anticipated as much. It’s not an uncommon thing to do because at the end of the day, a marriage is about aligning two clans, not two people. The people getting married have nothing to do with it; it’s a treaty being signed by proxy. He’s surprised that Orochimaru didn’t propose this solution half an hour ago, when it became clear that the groom wasn’t just running ten minutes late, he wasn’t going to show up.

Orochimaru steps onto the dais fluidly, his cloak billowing behind him. He’s a tall man, lean, but there’s a danger about him. “Master Naruto,” he says with a smile, and holds out a hand.

_ Do not punch him _ , Naruto tells himself, and places a hand carefully in Orochimaru’s hand. The man’s hands are completely dry; Naruto can feel the scaly protuberance of his calluses from wielding a sword. He turns to Iruka and gives him the warmest smile he can even though he is fairly certain he’ll need a shower after this.

“Well, then,” Iruka says, returning Naruto’s smile. He doesn’t look at Orochimaru when he speaks. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the union between two Clans, two villages, and two nations.”

The usual words are that the gathering is to celebration the union between two people, but there’s no point in keeping up appearances for a marriage so blatantly political: a jinchuuruki—the biological son of a Kage, the adopted son of another Kage, godson of a Sannin, and heir to the Senju inheritances—marrying a widowed soldier with no land, no name, not a single thing to claim as his own. For all of Naruto’s pedigree, he isn’t worth much at all.

Iruka turns to Orochimaru. “Do you, Lord Orochimaru, on behalf of—”

“I do,” Lord Orochimaru interrupts neatly. It’s rude, but the man smiles to soften the insult. He pitches his a fraction lower, making it obvious he wants the crowd to overheard. “We’ve kept the crowd waiting long enough don’t you think, Master Iruka?”

Iruka doesn’t return Orochimaru’s smile. Instead, he turns to Naruto and holds his gaze steady.  _ I may never see you again _ , Naruto thinks, and has to breathe deep against the thought. He will go north. He will leave behind all that he has known and loved for three hundred men in battle and the promise of more if the need arises.

“Do you, Uzumaki Naruto,” Iruka says, and pauses, making it clear that he’s giving Naruto one last chance.  _ You do not have to say yes _ , he told Naruto just the night before. He’d said it over and over again the minute Kakashi announced his decision, but Naruto hadn’t responded. He is a Kage’s son—twice over. He knows what his duties are. Countless daughters and sons before him have walked down the aisle for far more trifling reasons. There are wounded soldiers returning from the front lines every day. There are men being carried home for their last rites. Kakashi needs more men to overwhelm the Tsuchikage’s immense manpower. There is a war to be won.

“Do you, Uzumaki Naruto,” Iruka repeats with gentle care, “take Uchiha Sasuke as your lawfully wedded husband?”

Naruto takes a breath and squares his shoulders. “I do.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

Kushina is delighted by the journey. She keeps falling asleep with the gentle sway of the horse, tucked close to Naruto’s chest in the sling he has made from a wide sash of cloth. Whenever she wakes up, there is an entire landscape of new sights for her to take in with bright, bright blue eyes.

Naruto talks to her constantly. She’s three months now, at the age where she recognizes his scent and the cadences of his voice. She’ll look where he points and smile when she sees something she likes. Her laughter is almost always sudden and unexpected, an eruption of bubbly cheer. She will reach up to touch Naruto’s face every now and then, as if to confirm that yes, he is still here.

Orochimaru is annoyed by her. Naruto can tell in the way he scowls every time Naruto calls for the day’s journey to stop or camp for the night. He will not subject Kushina to any more than a few hours ride at a time. At each stop, he will set her down on soft grass and let her roll over onto her stomach—her new favorite thing to do—and kick out her hands and feet, lift up her legs, as if she’s swimming. Sakura told him that it was important for babies to do this to build up strength to eventually crawl and walk, so Naruto makes sure that she has at least an hour of play at every stop. He will feed her, change her if she needs, and then and only then, will he mount his horse again with her tied close to his chest or on his back to resume the journey.

Orochimaru tries to protest. He tries to point out, obliquely, that they are wasting _days_ at the rate they are going. Then, he mentions it outright around the campfire, pinning Naruto with an unrelenting stare and saying in front of his men and women. “I don’t think it’s necessary for us to stop so frequently and for so long.”

Naruto arches an eyebrow at him. “She’s my child, and I think we do,” he points out calmly. He’d offered to ride north in a year, when Kushina would be better suited to make the trek across hundreds and hundreds of miles. Orochimaru had refused. “Unless you have some deep knowledge of child-rearing or, even better, specific details about Kushina’s care?”

Orochimaru’s placid expression doesn’t change. They’ve been bickering subtly for the past hundred miles now, and Naruto is half-expecting his temper to finally snap. But instead, the man only smiles at him. “I meant no offense.”

“Good,” Naruto counters neatly, and gets to his feet. He’s only a few feet away from the fire when he hears Dosu Kinuta, a heavily bandaged man without tact or sense, say with a snigger, “Sasuke is going to have a _handful_ with that one.”

Naruto pushes into the tent just as the laughter erupts at the man’s comment, grateful for the privacy. He might be just a jinchuuruki, but he grew up commanding the respect given to a Kage’s son. He will not dignify these comments by the northerners; he’s had worse in his life.

Kushina’s breaths are soft in the quiet cocoon of their tent. He’d bundled her up securely on all sides with rolled up cloaks before stepping out for some water and to clean out the used milk bottles, but he now regrets not layering a light blanket over her. It’s getting colder at night as they head north, and they’re not even halfway there.

He curls up around her carefully after taking off most of his clothes, putting her close against his chest so he can breathe in the scent of her. She could have grown up with Kakashi as a doting grandfather, Jiraiya as an insufferable great-grandfather. She would have learned how to gamble from Tsunade and how to stitch a wound from her aunt Sakura. Neji would have been godfather, and his wife, Tenten, godmother. She would have been born into a loving circle of friends, the certainty of protection as heir to a triumvirate of Konohagakure Clans: Hatake, Senju, and Uzumaki.

But now she is Uchiha—not on paper, but by law—because bartering amongst warlords always disadvantages the man asking for the favor. Kakashi wanted three hundred men; he had offered Naruto and Naruto’s heir, Kushina. They are both Uchiha now.

_And what does that even mean?_

Naruto closes his eyes and forces himself to sleep before his thoughts spiral completely out of control.

* * *

Otogakure is carved into a valley. It is surrounded on all sides by seven mountains—the Seven Sisters, Orochimaru tells him—and she overlooks a lake so still that it looks like a flat, blue mirror, reflecting the snow-capped peaks of the mountains around it.

It is so far below sea level that descending into the valley feels like climbing underground. It’s a dangerous journey, and nearly two months of traveling through rolling plains and bypassing rich, evergreen forests, it makes Naruto’s already weary horse slow down even more. The northerners, though, maneuver their horses deftly down the steep descent, and linger at flat landings in the pass for Naruto to catch up.

It’s a strategic goldmine. Otogakure might not have formidable walls like Konohgakure or the desert like Sungagakure, but it has the mountains. No one can enter or exit the valley without being surrounded on all sides by Orochimaru’s archers. It’s a slow, treacherous descent towards death.

Kushina coos in his ear. He’d tied her to his back for this leg of the journey and she’s fascinated by what she sees, her pudgy fingers resting against his cheek every now and then when she wants his attention. “I know, baby,” Naruto murmurs, distracted by the need to keep his eyes glued to the path ahead. “I know.”

Kakashi and Sakura had begged him to take his own servants. _You will need allies_ , they told him, and Naruto had said _no_ , stubborn for no reason at all. Now, he regrets that decision, because it has been two months of relative silence, with only Kushina to keep him company, and he misses home.

He misses Kakashi and his doting, lingering kiss to his forehead every morning. He misses Sakura, who has been at his side every moment from his earliest memories. He misses Jiraiya and Tsunade, their easy affection and guidance. He misses Iruka’s unconditional faith and optimism. He misses training with Neji and Hinata. He misses quiet evenings with Tenten. He misses drinking with Ino. He misses ramen. He misses the redwood forests.

He would like, at least, for someone to take Kushina from him every now and then. He loves his daughter, he does, but he hadn’t realized just how much he relied on those around him to give him a break every now and then. “First thing we’re going to do,” he promises Kushina, “is write your grandfather and have him send servants so you and I don’t get completely sick of each other.”

Kushina coos at him, delighted to hear his voice after so long a silence. “And some strong wine, maybe,” Naruto promises. The Kage tower had at least fifty working at all times, more when needed. He hadn’t realized just how much Kakashi pampered him, the privilege of his life despite his status as a jinchuuruki. He’d ordered one of Orochimaru’s men to fetch firewood two nights earlier, and had been met with a blank gaze.

The miles stretch on. There is never a safe stretch of the rocky mountain pass leading to the valley below. Naruto is so busy concentrating on guiding his horse down safely that he doesn’t even realize when he reaches the valley floor.

Tayuya, a red-headed man who is one of Orochimaru’s most loyal, smirks when Naruto finally joins the rest of the northerners. “Not bad, princeling.”

 _Princeling,_ that’s what they call him, because in the south they have old, ancient clans with hierarchies. The north only has tribes with lords who reign over soldiers and farmers. When a leader becomes old, he is challenged by a younger, more formidable warrior. The north will not accept dynasties. “The princess was taking in the sights,” Naruto says with a cheerful smile. “I slowed down to let her enjoy it. In fact, I’m considering climbing up the mountain again, just so she can enjoy it a second time.”

Tayuya’s smirk disappears instantly, and he tugs at the reins of his horse almost violently to move away. They have all lost their patience with each other over the course of the journey. There isn’t a single northerner in the thirty-man party that Orochimaru rides with who will smile at Naruto.

“As far as first impressions go, Kushina,” Naruto says in a low-pitched voice, “we could have done worse.”

Kushina sneezes.

* * *

Konohagakure is a sprawling, cluttered city hidden amongst the redwood forests. It is surrounded by formidable pallisades that Kakashi is fortifying into massive walls, several hundred feet tall. The city streets wind and curve and loop around the city, paved by cobblestones and lit by lamps all along. Naruto grew up in a sprawling house that needed two fireplaces just to keep the feasting hall warm. There was enough space for Kakashi to hold conference with the leaders of all the Clans in the village; when they were young, Kakashi would allow Naruto and Sakura to hide under the table and overhear the proceedings. They would always fall asleep curled by his feet, and Kakashi would then carry them in his arms to their bedding and tuck them in himself. They had a courtyard paved with stone, and a stable with a dozen steads. Naruto grew up with tutors to teach him the languages, art, music, and diplomacy. Kakashi himself taught Sakura and Naruto how to form chakra seals. Every day, for an hour, he taught them taijutsu and ninjutsu, along with weaponry. He hired tutors to spar against Naruto and Sakura so they could test their skills, and when they were ready, he sent them out on missions beyond the city walls if there were reports of outlaws and bandits, or complaints of water wells running dry. Naruto and Sakura never wanted for anything, and they both grew up secure in the knowledge of their father’s unconditional love.

Otogakure is so unlike Konohagakure that it startles Naruto into silence. The city is not a city. In the Land of Fire, it would be considered a village. It is just a collection of houses and tents nestled against the sloping hills. Most are set low to preserve heat in the winter, although a few are larger, with stables attached and large yards. Naruto knew that Otogakure was a relatively new city and Orochimaru a relatively new leader, but it’s only now that he’s realizing just how _young_ this city is. Konohagakure is just over a hundred years old; Otogakure is barely ten.

The village center, at least, is bustling with activity. The town square is clustered with merchants selling their ware on open carts and under bright, draped cloths. They’re drawing attention as they move slowly towards the center of the village; when Naruto smiles at some of them, they return the gesture. _So not all northerners, then_ , he thinks because apparently, at least _some_ of them are willing to smile at him. A few of them wave their hands and call out to Naruto, but Naruto does not understand them. Everyone is speaking in a language that Naruto does not understand. Orochimaru and his men have been speaking broken southern dialect to Naruto for months now, and although Naruto had been curious to learn their native language, he didn’t trust them enough to ask. Now, he regrets the decision. He will have to piece together the language on his own without any tutors.

Orochimaru leads Naruto away from the largest cluster of houses and tents, until the village center is far behind them. As they travel, the tents and houses become more sparse, spaced apart by wide tracts of land with grazing cows and sheep.

“We’ll drop of you off at Sasuke’s residence,” Orochimaru says, moving his horse close to Naruto’s. “He has servants, so I’m sure you can manage on your own.”

“I can,” Naruto assures him. He doesn’t ask any of the questions he wants to ask because he doesn’t want to be beholden to Orochimaru in any way, even for the most basic information like, _Will Uchiha Sasuke be there?_

“Excellent,” Orochimaru announces with great relish, drawing up his horse sharply. “We’re here.”

 _Here_ is a moderately sized house set against a gentle sloping curve overlooking the river that threads through the village. Just beyond the house is the birchwood forests that climb all the way up the mountainside beyond. The view is stunning, but the house is relatively isolated on a vast tract of land. The stables set off to the side of the property are larger than the house.

Naruto holds Orochimaru’s gaze steady. He knows he should say _thank you_ , but Kushina always looks close to tears when the man is near. “I can take it from here.”

Orochimaru’s face twists, slipping out of its usual serene smile into something ugly and malicious. He smooths over the expression a moment later. “Welcome to Otogakure.”

He spurs his horse away before Naruto can respond, rejoining his men waiting at the mouth of the long path leading to the house. None of them, Naruto is realizing now, had crossed the line of stones marking the edges of Uchiha Sasuke’s land.

“A sign of fear, or a sign of respect?” Naruto asks his daughter.

Kushina blinks up at him with a gummy smile, so Naruto dips his head and kisses her cheek loudly. “Let’s go in.”

* * *

The children are confused. There are five of them and they are _all_ confused. Apparently, their father had failed to mention that he was getting married.

Thankfully, they all speak the southern tongue. They are not fluent in it, but Naruto will excuse their horrendous accent and even more atrocious syntax.

Mikoto, the only girl, is the first to recover from her shock. She’s _delighted_ , nearly vibrating with joy. “Hello! Hello! Hi! You brought me sister!” She can be no older than four, but she’s tall for her age. She bounds over to Naruto and peers at Kushina with a wide grin. “Hello!”

Her twin, Yaese, joins Mikoto to inspect Kushina just as carefully. Naruto holds Kushina carefully in his lap so they can make their acquaintances. Yaese stands so close to Kushina that their noses nearly touch. Kushina holds out a hand and presses her small fingers against his cheek, smacking her lips idly as she does. Yaese smiles, gap-toothed. “She’s really small.”

“She’s a baby, _that’s_ why,” Itachi explains. Now that the younger ones have warmed to Naruto, the older ones have no choice but to follow. Yaese steps aside for Itachi to say hello, and the boy holds out a finger to meet Kushina half-way. Kushina grips it immediately because she is a determined child if there ever was one, and once she understood that she has a prehensile thumb, she’s been unstoppable.

Itachi pulls away from Kushina’s death-grip on his finger. “Are you both going to live here? You can if you want. Kushina can play with us. That way, we’ll be an even split when we break up into two teams.”

Naruto can’t help the twitch of his lips. He’d clearly interrupted the children at play because they are all in some form of disarray—Shisui has mud all over the side of his face, and both Mikoto and Yaese have twigs and leaves in their wild, spiking nests of hair. Unthinking, Naruto reaches out to peel away some of the leaves from Mikoto’s hair, and she allows it, watching him carefully. “You’re very pretty,” she announces after a moment. “Is your hair really that color? Can I touch it?”

“You’re very pretty too,” Naruto promises her, because there’s no denying that she is. She beams at the compliment, and when Naruto ducks his head for her, she doesn’t hesitate in touching a hand gently to his hair. Her whispered, _soft_ , is almost disbelieving. Her hand moves to his forehead, and then his cheek, lingering lightly on the scars there before she moves to his nose and then lips. It’s almost as if she’s feeling out the dimensions of his face with her fingers. “Is everyone pretty where you come from?”

Naruto tries his level best to keep a straight face. The thing with children is that they have no filter between their brains and their mouths. Words just come tumbling out of them, unvarnished and without even an iota of tact. “There’s all sorts of people in Konohagakure,” he answers, which is the truth. Theirs is a land of plenty; people emigrate to the Land of Fire from across the entire Continent.

“So you’re Uchiha now?” Shisui asks.

 _No_ , _we’re the_ _price for three hundred soldiers_. “Yes, we are,” Naruto answers. “You have room for two more?”

Shisui wipes at his nose with the back of his hand. It leaves behind a streak of dirt, but he doesn’t seem to realize it. _Wild children,_ Naruto thinks. _Where is their father?_ “Not much,” Shisui answers. “But my brothers and I can share rooms.”

The offer is kind. He is a generous child, warm and welcoming. Naruto remembers Kushina’s promise that he would find the love of his life one day. He has Kushina, but now he sees these five wild children arrayed in front of him, and thinks, _Maybe. “_ Thank you, sweetheart. I’m sure we can all figure something out.”

Shisui is clearly the more talkative of the older brothers because the eldest, who can’t be older than eight, hasn’t said a word to him. He hasn’t even introduced himself to Naruto yet.

Still, Naruto has to try. By law, these are his children now. No matter how much he wants to take a bath, lie down, and go to sleep, he has to make a good impression. “Would it be okay if Kushina said hello to you?”

The boy wrinkles his nose. A moment later, he stalks over towards Naruto and grinds out, “Hello, Kushina.”

Naruto takes Kushina’s wrist gently in his and approximates a wave. “Kushina, say hello to…” He looks up at the boy. “What’s your name?”

The boy takes a breath. For a moment, Naruto thinks he won’t even answer. But then, he does.

“Kakashi,” he says, squaring his shoulders and trying to draw himself up. “My name is Uchiha Kakashi.”

* * *

The window in Naruto’s bedroom is wide enough that he can lean out and see the kids at play. They’re tumbling around on the grass by the small stream that winds around the eastern side of the house. It’s a stunning view. The house is situated on a hill, so he can see evergreens in a lush line, marking the boundaries of the property. There are horses grazing lazily on the fields, and further still, cows and sheep, being tended to by a herder with a fast-moving dog. Just beyond, Naruto can see the elegant peaks of one of the mountains, capped with a pristine white. So far north, the air is cool even at the peak of summer.

Onga, the servant, is chattering away excitedly about how much everyone had waited for Naruto’s arrival, how it’ll be good for Commander Uchiha— _Commander_ , then, not a lord—to have a young child in the house again, to have a partner to brighten the day. Naruto learns from Onga that Uchiha Sasuke has been widowed for four years now, and that he is rarely home these days due to the skirmishes further north.

But for all her chatter, Naruto can’t pay much attention to her words. _Kakashi,_ the boy called himself. It’s a rare name, and Naruto doesn’t believe in coincidences.

“Would you like me to draw up a bath, Master Naruto?”

Naruto blinks away from the children below. He could ask Onga, but he doesn’t know yet if he can trust her with such a question. “Yes, please,” he says with a smile. “I’ll give Kushina a bath first, though.”

Onga’s eyes flit over briefly to Kushina. “You’ve been giving her powdered milk?”

He’d packed all the supplies for Kushina so obsessively that he has an excess of food, cloth diapers, and clothes for her. He barely bought anything for himself just to make room for her things. “Yes, I’ll need some boiled water and—”

“We can get you a wet nurse, if you’d like,” Onga interrupts politely. She gives Naruto a smile.

In Konohagakure, to preserve the dignity of the surrogate, Kushina’s birth had been anonymous. The surrogate had also been anonymous, because knowledge of her identity would have marked her as the _mother_ to the next demon-vessel. There are some superstitions that even Kakashi’s love and protection will not erase because Naruto’s curse has been written into the scriptures. The priests read it aloud in mass. 

The northerners, though, don’t follow the same traditions or religion. Maybe—“She won’t mind?”

Onga angles her head curiously. A frown appears between her brows. “Why would she?”

He hates saying the words aloud, but he will when he’s hard-pressed. “Kushina is a jinchuuruki. Like me.”

Onga’s expression doesn’t change. “Oh. I hadn’t—” She stops, abrupt, flushing a deep red now.

For all their differences in the north and the south, they apparently have this in common: hatred for demons. There is no way for her to withdraw her offer without seeming impolite, so Naruto spares her the effort. “Boiled water, please. I have some bottles in my things. If you could have them washed, also with boiling water. And for her bath, some lukewarm water and soap that will be gentle for her skin.”

“Of course,” Onga says. She dips her head politely and leaves the room, closing the wooden door behind her gently.

Naruto walks to Kushina’s crib—Yaese’s old crib—set against the far wall of the room. She’s kicking at the air idly and smiles when he comes into view. In Konohagakure, she would have grown up secure with the love of everyone around her. She may have been jinchuuruki, but Kakashi loves her dearly. So do Jiriaya and Tsunade. Sakura’s eyes were bright with tears when she handed her away to Naruto before he left for his journey. Here, she will have to be introduced into society as a jinchuuruki. He doesn’t want her to live through what he did those first few years of his life when it was just him and his mother, without Kakashi’s name and love to protect him: people crossing the street, mothers shielding their own children from Naruto.

Kakashi had forced his will on the clans, had told them, _This is my son_. Naruto didn’t have any friends until he was six years old, but after that, he was always with Sakura and his friends. Kushina would have grown up with Sarada for a cousin, a family. She would have had friends.

And now? What sway does Naruto have in this strange land to ensure that Kushina has a happy childhood?

 _The goddamn Uchiha bastard,_ Naruto think. _And Orochimaru, too_. The least they could do was prepare the village for their arrival.

“It’s all right, baby,” Naruto promises Kushina. “Us Uzumakis always stick together.”

* * *

It _is_ all right—for the first seven months.

Uchiha Sasuke is missing in action, so Naruto has free reign of the house. He gets to know all five servants, who are a family that lives on Sasuke’s property—Onga, and her husband, Ichiro, the cook, manage the properties. Their niece, Nohine, helps Onga, while their daughter, Ichinohe, runs the stables. Their son, Misai, is the shepherd. They all live in a house fifty yards from the stables. Only Onga and Nohine can speak southern tongue, and they act as translators for Naruto as he becomes familiar with the household, the land, and the finances, and gets to work putting things in order because apparently, for all his battle prowess, Uchiha Sasuke is a goddamn idiot.

They’re hemorrhaging money for no reason, there are major repairs needed for the house and the stables, there is no single person designated in taking care of the children. No one was given any orders. Apparently, the man just saddled up for war in his armor, and thundered off to put down yet another uprising in the north without so much as a _by your leave_. None of the servants have even been _paid_ yet; they are used to the Uchiha’s disappearing act so they have no issues continuing to live on the vast properties until Uchiha returns. He always pays, and in the meantime, Onga has somehow been managing with the profits from the sheep and cows they raise.

The day after he arrives, Naruto rolls up his sleeves and begins work. Kakashi was training him to be a Kage’s advisor—he knows how to balance a budget for a nation and make sure the troops are well supplied. He knows how to ride into battle and assess the field. He led platoons under Kakashi’s orders. The messy finances and disorder of a single household are easy by comparison.

He pays the staff first, and then has a long, detailed conversation with Misai—with her cousin Nohine acting as translator—about their herd. He barters off some of the sheep and cows at such a hard price that the herder’s eyes widen in disbelief at the final amount that Naruto negotiates. Then, Naruto buys pigs and chicken because they have the land and manpower to be self-sustaining, but they still are forced to negotiate at market prices because, apparently, Uchiha Sasuke never thought to flush out the animal holdings on his land. He spends far too much money on horses, and not enough on livestock, and now they have a stable with six steads, while a single herder is tasked with pulling in the only profits the land is making.

“Unacceptable,” Naruto says, and sells two of the mares in the stable—last-minute, vanity purchases by the Uchiha before he left for war; they’re not even warhorses, just pretty show mares—while the Ichinohe looks on in awe and disbelief. She is sad to see the mares go, but she is grateful for the lessened work.

The house itself is in worse disrepair than Naruto imagined. He does not have the funds to order construction, so he bundles Kushina up in her crib, and gets down on his hands and knees to help Onga and Nohine clean the place up. Kushina will be crawling soon; he will not tolerate a floor so dirty for his child. If his daughter is to live here—if _all_ his children, six of them now are to live here—then he will try to make this place as close to the home he grew up in.

The houses in the north are nothing like the open, wide spaces of the mansions Naruto grew up in. The walls are lined with drapes to keep the warmth in. Even the beds are different, set close to hearths and surrounded by canopy to trap the heat in during the winter. The rooms have no furnishings besides beds and a small iron stove or hearth.

The children spend all their hours outside, as they should, but Naruto tries to imagine them trapped inside during the cold northern winters and hates it. So he sells off all the draperies because there is no rhyme or reason to how they were chosen; Onga tells him that Uchiha just barked at the merchant to give him enough, and didn’t bother to find out which. In a fit of pique, Naruto even sells off the furniture. He sells the dining table that once clearly belonged in the barracks (it _did_ , Onga confirms; once, before he became commander, Uchiha Sasuke was too poor to afford his own furniture so he borrowed liberally from the barracks), and he sells most of the chairs and _all_ the children’s beds. He even sells some of the kitchenware because the cook gets wind of his massive restructuring of the household and arrives with a list of his own grievances.

After he finishes selling out most of the house’s belongings, he sets off to the village center with Nohine and the children. After just two months of organization and selling, the household finances are robust enough that he can afford to splurge on their rooms and buy them beds large enough for them to grow into. The children have warmed enough to him that they are eager for the trip to the market. Kakashi took the longest to woo, but he came around eventually, and only because Itachi and Shisui dared him to climb an evergreen tree. He fell and dislocated his shoulder, and when Naruto called the doctor to have it reset, Kakashi had sobbed quietly into his chest while Naruto held him close. After that, he has started to listen to Naruto and even seeks out his presence when he’s bored.

Then again, he is just _eight,_ a child, and although he carries himself as if trying to mimic an adult, Naruto learned early on that he only does so because his father is so often gone. He thinks of himself as the leader of the other children—Itachi an even younger seven, Shisui six, and the twins Mikoto and Yaese just four—and they follow him around everywhere he goes. He has even taken Kushina under his wing, because when Kushina finally learned how to sit up, Naruto had overheard Kakashi say, solemn, “You will call me, _Brother_.” Kushina chewed contentedly at her fingers in response.

Without a proper caretaker, they have grown a little wild (Onga can only do so much, and they’re used to ordering her around), so after haircuts and strict enforcement of rules that they must _shower_ every day and not arrive for meals covered from head to toe in mud, they start to look more like children and less like wild bandits.

They cannot afford tutors, and there is no schooling in session for the summer. So Naruto teaches them himself. It’s easy enough to recall his lessons, and he teaches them the children the way he was taught. It is a bit difficult to juggle all six children at once, but Nohine steps in to help him, and they manage between the two of them to hold lessons for a few hours every day before setting the children wild on the lands.

Nohine is close to Naruto’s age, so he spends most of his time with her. She teaches him a little of their language, usually when they’re both elbow-deep in the gardens outside the house. They plant flowers and blossoming cherry trees to line the path leading up to the house because when he’d rode in with Orochimaru, he hadn’t even realized he was approaching someone’s residence. The entire front yard is just patchy grass and mud, nothing to suggest, _Home_ , like the cobbled front yard lined with flowers and potted plants in Naruto’s childhood residence.

Nohine is as patient with Naruto as she is with the children during their lessons. When he asks questions—about their religion, their language, their culture, their ways—she answers them as patiently. The most important thing that Naruto learns is this:

Otogakure moves.

“The whole village?” Naruto demands.

“The whole village,” Nohine answers. “Most of the people here are nomads still. Every few seasons, we will move to find better land. Otherwise, we would suck the earth dry.”

Naruto still cannot comprehend a village moving. Otogakure is not nearly as big as Konoha—with its thousands of inhabitants—but there at least a few hundred people here. Moving them all would require such effort and care. “When did you last move? When will you—when will _we_ move again?”

“Soon,” Nohine answers, as if it’s not of great concern.

“Why would Orochimaru—” Naruto stops talking, abrupt. He trusts Nohine, but he is Kakashi’s son. He was raised amid politics with a healthy dose of paranoia and self-preservation. And besides, it doesn’t take a genius to understand why Orochimaru would move his village so frequently. He is besieged on all sides by enemies. He can trust no one. For all its defensive strengths, the valley is also susceptible to siege; he cannot watch all the passes, his defenses are stretched thin as it is, which leaves him open to attack from one of the unwatched passes.

Nohine glances up at Naruto from her task of digging trenches with her spade to plant a row of beans. Like all the northerners, she is pale and dark-haired. The smudge of dirt on her skin is stark, but she is still beautiful. She reminds Naruto of Tenten. “You seem most concerned with village politics and law instead of other things.”

“What else would concern me?” Naruto mutters under his breath. He rests back on his heels and considers the gardens. It looks peaceful now with the addition of flowers and trees. It looks like a _home_ , not just a patch of grass in front of a forgotten, ramshackle building. Two days ago, Naruto, Nohine, and the children had bent bamboo shoots into arches and tied them together to line the path leading to the front door. It had been a fun activity for all of them, a chance for Naruto to teach the children about tying different knots, the strength of the bamboo wood and its many uses—as a splint for broken bones, as a weapon if hollow and loaded with a needle, and as a practice sword. They have spent hours on this garden, and one day, they will have to abandon it and leave.

“Other things,” Nohine answers with a sly smile.

Naruto flushes at her suggestion. This is the other thing about northerners. They have no sense of propriety. They talk openly about…things. All things. Less than a week after they had met, Nohine had asked him bluntly if he had lain with a woman to conceive Kushina, or if it had been done in the manner of breeding prized stallions—just the seed and a womb to carry the child to term. Naruto had stuttered out, _I didn’t know the mother_ , and Nohine hadn’t batted an eyelash at his discomfort. Instead, she had asked him an even more personal question: _Onga let slip you were a jinchuuruki. You’re untouched because of your curse?_

Naruto didn’t know how to answer her question, so he’d kept his silence. Here she is, trying to bring up the topic again. Naruto has learned that she is exceedingly persistent, so he goes back to the task of planting their vegetable garden. He’s hoping Nohine will let the topic drop, but she doesn’t.

“Do you have any questions about your wedding night when Sasuke returns?” she asks.

They call him by his first name, because he is just a soldier, not _Lord_ like Kakashi or Orochimaru. “There won’t be a wedding night,” Naruto points out mildly, “once he finds out that I’m jinchuuruki.”

“Once he sees you,” Nohine counters, “he’ll want to consummate the marriage.”

Naruto feels his neck get hot. “He won’t—”

“Oil,” Nohine interrupts neatly, and reaches into her pant pockets to withdraw a small vial. She places it between them on the ground. “Use your fingers so you can become familiar with it. Use as much oil as you need, and then use more. It will be uncomfortable at first, but for men, it is pleasurable. That’s what Sasuke will want, when he sees you.” She pauses a beat and tilts her head, considering Naruto carefully. “I imagine that’s what most men want when they see you. That, or your mouth. I can teach you that another day.”

Naruto’s mouth drops open. Sakura is a medic and she’s never said such explicit things to him. “Excuse me?”

“It should be pleasurable for you too,” Nohine says, smiling at him now. “It will be. I’ll teach you how.”

“I don’t need—”

“Yes, you do,” Nohine answers, getting to her feet. She dusts her hands and then her pants. “I’ll get lunch ready for the children. Do you want me to bring Kushina to you?”

“I’ll go to her myself,” Naruto bites out, and Nohine walks away with a smile, ignoring his anger entirely. For a moment, Naruto stares at the vial. It is made of blown glass, the deep brown-yellow of it glimmering in the overhead sun. He thinks about burying it in the ground so he doesn’t have to look at it anymore, but then he hears Shisui’s and Itachi’s combined yelling, _Naruto! Naruto! Look at what we found!_ And he pockets it hurriedly, just in time for Shisui and Itachi to come bounding towards him, holding two monstrous toads in their hands. It’s easy to forget about Nohine and the vial in his pocket after that.

* * *

Throughout summer and early fall, dinner every night is at a table Naruto had set in the backyard so they can enjoy the cool summer nights by a fire, with lanterns strung up all around them while the children trip over each other and themselves to tell Naruto what, exactly, they learned that day. Naruto listens, patient. They now have enough money to hire tutors, and even though the tutors report back to him every week, he likes hearing the wonder in Shisui’s voice when he talks about how accurate his archery is getting or Kakashi’s serious recital of lessons to show Naruto how far he’s advanced.

He tucks Kushina into bed every night, so he does the same for the other children. Mikoto lets him bundle her into her arms and kiss her goodnight, and Yaese always murmurs back, “G’night” before nodding right off into sleep. Shisui is almost impossible to settle down because he is full of questions and energy, and _one of more story?_ But he always listens when Naruto promises, _Close your eyes, you’ll fall asleep before you know it_ , and does just that. Itachi frowns at being babied, but relents and even requests, _I don’t like having the blankets tucked up to my shoulders_. Eventually, Kakashi lets Naruto kiss him goodnight instead of covering his face with the blankets to signal his desire to be left alone. Naruto persists with Kakashi despite weeks of sullen silence because he reminds Naruto of _his_ Kakashi, something about the way the boy slouches or pouts or holds his silences.

The children are easy to fall in love with, and Naruto realizes that for all the truths that Kushina spoke to him, she was wrong about one thing: he didn’t find just _one_ love of his life, but _six_ of them. He wakes up on rainy mornings to Mikoto and Yaese crawling into bed, Shisui joining a few moments later to complain, _Do we have to have our lessons today with all this rain?_ Itachi and Kakashi eventually join them, and they doze together in a pile of limbs. Then, they have breakfasts together, and Kakashi will slump against his side and sulk at having to wake up at all while Shisui waits patiently for Naruto to peel a grapefruit and hand section after section for him.

On really beautiful days, when the weather is just perfect, Naruto will ride out with all the children and Nohine to survey the land and picnic out on the far hills of the property, so far that the house is just a distant speck. But summer quickly turns to fall, and then winter sets in, and with it the unrelenting storms.

It’s on the first of these winter storms, seven months after Naruto’s arrival in July, that Uchiha Sasuke returns.

 


End file.
